Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Conducted by Mario Venzago
CPO 777 691-2 (CD)
Mario Venzago’s Bruckner cycle is nearly complete. Of the
nine major symphonies all but the Fifth have been recorded for the CPO label.
Each disc in the cycle is accompanied by an essay by the conductor in which he
lays out his views on performing Bruckner and why he feels it necessary to add
yet another cycle in a crowded market-place. The basic premise of Venzago’s
approach is that, despite the lack of explicit direction in Bruckner’s own
scores, an unjustified tradition of massiveness and solemnity has grown up
around the nine symphonies. Against this tradition Venzago proposes a trimmer, more
Schubertian tone, together with what he terms a “rubato-rich bar-line-free
playing style".
It is hard to know what to make of the idea of a playing
style that is rubato-rich but bar-line-free. The whole point of rubato is
occasional and expressive divergence from the basic underlying tempo and in
most forms of music you need bar lines to establish a tempo. But of course the
real issue is not how Venzago articulates his approach, but how it works in
practice. Venzago describes himself as impressed by what he sees as the “church
opera” aspects of Bruckner’s music. He allows himself dynamic liberties to
allow “the sensuous opulence of the music to come out”. The real question is
whether those liberties add up to a coherent vision of the score.
The challenge for Venzago is that Bruckner’s music (in all
his symphonies, but perhaps none more so than the Eighth) is built up a gradual
progression through great blocks of sound. Venzago deliberately turns his back
on the steady and disciplined tempi that many conductors use to impose order on
Bruckner’s huge soundscape. Does he have anything to put in their place?
I don’t have a clear answer. Vanzago’s rhythmic fluidity
works better in some movements than others. Of the four movements, the Scherzo
and the Finale work best. The closing minutes of the Finale are very effective,
despite some of the exaggerated accelerandos and ritardandi leading up to it.
But the logic of the Adagio does not emerge and the build up to the grand
climax of the movement lacks the architectural weight it deserves. Many
listeners are likely to object to what they see as ghastly distortions of the
musical line, particularly in the Adagio, but also in the opening movement.
This recording of the Eighth is probably worth listening to,
if only for the perspective it gives to the tradition of massiveness and
solemnity. I’d be surprised if Venzago’s Eighth had many converts, but at least
it makes us appreciate what we might otherwise have taken for granted!
